Well that's a myth propagated by fixed-wing jocks which has been
very nicely taken up by the general public.
Not saying that fixed-wing flying is easy, but flying a helicopter
is much more demanding than a plane due to the fact that a
helicopter is aerodynamically unstable on all 3 axis (take your
hands off the controls for more than a few seconds and you can say
bye-bye to stable flight; autopilot notwithstanding). It's another
case of comparing apples and oranges, but the actual flying part,
IMHO, is more demanding for a helo pilot.
And yes, there are commercial helo pilot jobs available and I would
believe they have it easy since former airforce pilots also have to
compete with a huge army of commercial pilots who were never in the
airforce.
Just look how easy it was for the 9/11 hijackers to get flying
instructions for commercial flight. As a civilian, you can get to
be a commercial pilot without having to go through the
airforce.
As for airforce pilots, almost everybody wants to be a fighter
jock, that's a natural mystique. There is a hierarchy of status
within most airforces. Fighter jocks think ground-pounders are
fighter washouts. Both think transport pilots are glorified bus
drivers. While all think that heli-pilots are a combination of the
above. Just let it be known, all of them have a place within the
airforce.
An old A-6 pilot saying -"Fighter pilots make movies. Bomber pilots
make history."
